Local News

Tim Wright shed the interim label he has had for the past 10 months after the Anderson County Board of Health unanimously selected him as health department director last Thursday night.
The health board interviewed Wright and two other candidates in closed session before publically voting Wright into the position.
Wright beamed when the board voted as his wife, Tammy Lou, and several health department staff members applauded the decision.
Afterward he said having the interim label removed doesn’t mean his goals have changed.

Hunter Mueller drove past his frozen children every day on the way to work.
He’d pray to God to keep those six embryos safe, he said, because part of himself, as well as the future Mueller family, waited in that building at the UC Center for Reproductive Health in Cincinnati.
“Literally, I pass right by that building,” Hunter, who lives in Lawrenceburg and still commutes to Cincinnati, said as he sat on his living room couch next to his wife, Carla.

With the nation on edge following the recent mass shooting in Connecticut, it’s understandable that West Park Plaza McDonald’s customers became concerned when they saw a young man holding what appeared to be a .45 caliber handgun outside of the restaurant last Wednesday afternoon.
They became even more concerned when the man, Mark A. Vest, 18, of 1128 Gregory Lane allegedly stuffed the gun into the back of his pants and started walking into the restaurant with two other men.

Christmas Day, 1989.
Brad Gulley, 7, wields his first guitar — a no name, knock-off Takamine.
A family photo captured the moment.
Gulley, now 30, preserved the memory for the fourth verse of a Christmas song.
A song featured on the “Christmas the Mountain Way” compilation record that garnered a rave review from Country Music Television and a spot on its 12-pick list of Christmas albums for this year.

The investigation into an estimated 1,500 gallons of raw sewage dumped into the ravine off Wildcat Road earlier this month is ongoing and now involves state and federal agencies.
Det. Bryan Taylor of the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that he is now working with state and federal authorities, and that he has interviewed suspects in the case.

Judge-Executive John Wayne Conway is breaking the law by having a reserved parking sign installed for himself on Ollie Bowen Drive, according to one city councilman.
“It’s illegal,” Councilman Ken Evans said when told that Conway had the sign put up. “It’s an encroachment on the city’s right of way and needs to come down.”
Conway had the sign re-installed last week on the heels of the city council’s vote to deny his request to have the street turned over to the county.

By Todd Martin
The Sentinel-News
WADDY – Residents seem convinced that the recent brutal maulings of several animals in southeast Shelby County were the blood-thirsty attacks of nothing more than a dog.
Most of more than 100 residents and community who attended a meeting Monday night at the Waddy Ruritan Club, expressed certainty that a rogue dog, or dogs, is responsible for the mauled calves and goats, at least five of which have had to be euthanized, which were found between Nov. 30 and Dec. 6.
And now there could be confirmation coming.

A free community Christmas dinner will be served at Open Hands Food Pantry on Christmas Day, according to a news release.
The dinner will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the pantry, located at 1111 Industrial Road.
Organizers request those planning to attend call June Byrne at 502-604-1255; Doug Haddix at 502-598-9297; or Charlie Blacketer at 502-598-1118 by Dec. 22.
Transportation will be provided if necessary.

Gary Rice leaves for work in the dark and comes home in the dark.
So when he glimpses his glowing house from the top of the hill on Creekside Drive in Lawrenceburg, it makes the journey home from his job at a construction company, and the three weeks it took stringing the 36,000 Christmas lights, worthwhile.